The Far Middle East
From the chaos of Jakarta, capital of the world’s most populous Moslem nation, it’s just a short hop northeast across Borneo to Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of the Islamic Sultanate of Negara Brunei Darussalam, the “State of Brunei, Abode of Peace” or just Brunei as the tiny oil rich nation is usually known. The country is one of the world's few remaining absolute monarchies, ruled over today by Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar 'Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien, the 29th ruler of a Moslem dynasty stretching back in an unbroken line to the very first, a Malay king who converted to Islam at the end of the 14th century. For the first half of the 20th century, Brunei was a British protectorate closely aligned with Malaya. But when Malaya gained its independence (becoming Malaysia), Brunei chose to go its own way unlike its neighbours on Borneo's north coast, Sarawak and Sabah. Today, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah (as he's known to his friends!) is not just supreme leader but also prime minister, minister of defense, minister of foreign affairs and minister of finance. For all intents and purposes, he is the country!
Brunei's turning point was the discovery of oil and gas in 1929 as a consequence of which today, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah is one of the world’s richest individuals. A good chunk of the country’s oil revenue comes to him as does that of the state airline, Royal Brunei, which the Sultan himself owns. There is much blurring between the extended royal family’s assets and those of the state. But there is a sovereign wealth fund which has reported assets of around $60 billion and which also owns among other things, London’s Dorchester Hotel, the New York Palace Hotel and the Beverly Hills Hotel.
The country’s 400,000 or so citizens do enjoy a relatively high standard of living (and are “very happy” according to our Bruneian guide), get free education and healthcare and pay no income tax. Land for building is mostly free, housing and fuel are heavily subsidized and loans for cars and houses are interest free. There is “no” unemployment. Most people work for the government and if you don’t have a job, it seems one is just created for you! There’s very little public transport (and a very noticeable absence of motor scooters unlike the rest of the region) - hardly necessary when car loans and fuel are so cheap - 400,000 Bruneians drive one and a half million cars! There are also very few taxis (mostly for foreign visitors) but there is an Uber-like app which we tried and worked very well.
In contrast to the relatively liberal and tolerant version of Islam that is Indonesia’s state religion, under the current Sultan’s leadership, Islam in Brunei has become increasingly conservative and intolerant. This was in part a reaction to the “Arab spring” uprisings of 2011, following which the Sultan took a sharp right turn and over the next several years introduced full-blown Sharia law. As a result of the international outcry and highly publicized boycotts of his fancy western hotels, the Sultan has pulled back from some of the more extreme punishments Sharia law requires. Nevertheless, Islam dominates the national psyche far more than in neighbouring countries. Around 75% of the population is Malay (and mostly Moslem) the majority of the rest are Chinese some of whom are Christian. All Moslem children, even those attending international schools must attend Islamic school and learn to recite the Koran in Arabic. Many street and building signs are written in Arabic script as well as in Malay although the Arabic lettering spells Malay words and so are incomprehensible to an Arabic speaker!
Unsurprisingly given the oil and gas industry, there is also a significant ex-pat community. The country is “dry” with no alcohol being permitted even in hotels frequented by foreigners, for some reason the only exception being the Royal Brunei Yacht Club. Non-Moslems may bring a very limited amount into the country strictly for personal consumption as long as it is declared and authorized at the border entry point. Other than its South China Sea coastline, Brunei is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Ex-pats regularly make the short drive to the nearest border crossing. On the Malaysian side there are cafes and stores selling alcohol. For ex-pats it’s a welcome break; Bruneians call it “little Bangkok”!
Despite all of this, British influence remains strong in Brunei. Outside of the small central area, Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital (known as Brunei City in colonial times) has a strangely British feel about it. Driving is on the left, the motorways look distinctly English as do the frequent roundabouts. Queen Elizabeth II is much admired. A street in the capital is named for her and then there’s “Edinburgh Palace” a gift to the queen on the occasion of her 1972 visit which still stands empty and ready for her should she ever decide to retire here!! We also catch a glimpse of a Queen, the Sultan’s wife (or at least one of them) who sped past us on Sunday morning in a stretch Rolls Royce flanked by motor cycle outriders
“Crazy Rich Asians”
We passed through Brunei to stop in and visit Tom & Suzanna, both teachers in one of Brunei’s two international schools. Their wedding in England aside, we’d last bumped in to Tom & Suzanna in Bogota (Colombia) when they were teaching there at an international school. At the time, we did say to them that when they tired of Bogota and were ready to move on elsewhere, they should seriously consider somewhere else we’d not been to and for sure we’d visit. Brunei fits the bill!
For our short visit, we stay at the Empire Hotel and Country Club on the outskirts of Bandar Seri Begawan. This supremely over-the-top “hotel” was built by the Sultan’s corrupt ex-playboy younger brother, Prince Jefri as a palace for royal guests. Prince Jefri made his mark by reportedly embezzling $40 billion from the state and using the money to fund his no-holds-barred extravagant lifestyle. Not just the usual fleet of flashy cars, yachts, planes and houses but also the hotels mentioned earlier and Asprey, the very high end London retailer. The prince also collected a bevy of beautiful western models who he coaxed back to Brunei to serve as his harem!
In the end, the Prince was caught and in a series of messy legal battles was forced to return much of the loot to the state/his brother. He spent a few years in exile before being allowed to return to Brunei where he retains the trapping of royalty and is occasionally seen at public functions
The guest Palace, taken over by the state was converted into the Empire Hotel. It has some 500 rooms and villas (one apparently the residence of one of the royals) set in vast manicured grounds including one of Asia’s finest golf courses, waterfalls, lagoons and the largest swimming pool I’ve ever seen. The main building, formerly the heart of the palace is built around a multi-storey atrium constructed of massive slabs and columns of Italian marble decorated with gold leaf with Swarovski crystal chandeliers hanging from the enormously high ceilings. The stairway bannisters are inlaid with mother-of-pearl with semi-precious stones in each of the stair railings. You’re beginning to get the picture....!!
Prince Jefri hasn’t been forgotten. All the dining ware, plates, cups, cutlery etc bear the crest “JP” for Jefri Property (a former company) and all stamped “Asprey” indicating where it was all purchased
Just a shame there aren’t any guests!! Several people commented to us that they’re surprised the place is still open as it must run at a vast loss. Apparently the occupancy rate is frequently no more than 10% but the hotel has an enormous staff to maintain the appearance of perfection. The entire place is indeed immaculate and the service beyond impeccable. To be fair, over the weekend we stayed, the hotel did seem quite busy; the guests were almost exclusively Asian - Chinese and Korean predominantly - we stood out as almost the lone Caucasians other than the occasional ex-pats who stop by to use the pool and beach facilities.
And we did leave our mark. We’d purchased the permitted two bottles of wine each at the duty free store in Jakarta airport intended as a gift for Tom and Suzanna. As we were leaving the hotel, one of the carrier bags toppled over, a bottle smashed and wine spilled out onto the forecourt. Trying to stem the flow, I cut my finger on some of the broken glass and in the ensuing pandemonium (a flunky wanted to call the emergency doctor) the flowing wine was overlooked! Anywhere else it would be no big deal, but in a legally and religiously dry country.....Fortunately just a bottle of Aussie wine and not the “good” French stuff we’d bought!
So Brunei is a very unusual country. A rather eerie blend of a couple of other places we’ve visited. Oman, another not “Saudi-conservative” Islamic absolute monarchy, and North Korea where non-critical adoration and reverence of the supreme and absolute leader are the order of the day. There’s no freedom of speech, no free press and no elections, not even sham ones. But it seems nobody’s complaining and as we’re told, Bruneians are all very happy and have everything they want - so why would they....?